Minister blasts EU’s ‘mad’ war on smugglers

A eUROPeAn Union naval mission aimed at stopping mass migration into europe is ‘pure lunacy’, the Belgian migration minister has said.

Theo Francken insisted Belgium should withdraw its frigate from the £15.2 million operation – which includes the UK – because it has led to more deaths and drawn in more migrants.

The country has sent frigate louise-Marie to take part in Operation Sophia, which intends to disrupt networks of people smugglers off the libyan coast who send migrants towards italy – often on ramshackle dinghies.

While saving the migrants is not the core task of the mission, the military vessels often have to do so.

‘i personally think this operation should not be repeated because it is pure lunacy. There is no logic to it,’ Mr Francken told broadcaster VTM. ‘it is not about whether we should save them or not. We should. But this creates an effect of drawing in migrants with more dead people as a result. it is a shame on europe.’

it comes after a damning House of lords report revealed last week that the operation had not ‘in any meaningful way’ deterred migrants or disrupted the criminal people-smuggling networks.